Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Celebrates Graduation

The Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Graduation Ceremony took place on Sunday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m. at Plum Street Temple.  The ceremony honored graduates of 2020 (whose graduation had been postponed due to the pandemic) and 2021.  Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, Senior Rabbi of Isaac M. Wise Temple and President of the Central Conference of Reform Rabbis, welcomed the masked graduates, dignitaries, HUC-JIR professors and administration, family members, and guests to Plum Street Temple.  

Rabbi Jonathan Hecht, Ph.D., Dean of the Cincinnati campus, commented, “Our goal as an institution of Jewish studies is to apply scholarship so it affects change in the world.  Our graduates go on to serve in different capacities throughout the world.”  Rabbi Julie S. Schwartz, Associate Dean of the Cincinnati campus, and Rabbi Richard Sarason, Ph.D., Director, Pines School of Graduate Studies, presented the degree recipients, each of whom received their academic hoods.  Madeleine R. Anderson, Ashley Lynn Barrett, Rebecca Gabriella Benoff, Caitlin Joy Brazner, Anna Meyers Burke, Randall M. Burke, Matthew Derrenbacher, Rebecca Anne Diamond, Ashley Englander, Jonathan Robert Falco, Daniel Paul Hotary, David Nathan Jaffe, Eliza Rosie Silk McCarroll, Benjamin Rosen, Jessica “Tzvia” Erin Rubens, and Edith E. Yakutis received Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degrees.

Philip Jordan Fischaber, Hara Jun, Michael Walter Owen, Ryan M. Replogle, Chelsea Ann Simon, and Anthony Brian Stoller were awarded Master of Philosophy in Hebraic and Cognate Studies degrees.  Master of Arts in Jewish Studies degrees were presented to Gretchen Suzanne Johnson, Matthew Reed Liethen, and Devin G. Olachea.  The Doctor of Philosophy degree was conferred upon Matthew Alan Boersma, Philip Marcus Bollinger, Kyungji (Kevin) Ha, and John C. Johnson.

Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., HUC-JIR President, presented an honorary degree, the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, to Rabbi Samuel K. Joseph, Ph.D., Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Jewish Education and Leadership Development. Rabbi Gary P. Zola, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, hooded his colleague and friend, Dr. Joseph.  Dr. Rehfeld noted that Dr. Joseph has had an abiding impact on generations of students at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati and the wider Jewish world with his visionary leadership, having taught at HUC-JIR for 40 years and one semester, and authored four books and over 50 articles on education and leadership. Dr. Joseph presented the Graduation address.

Following Dr. Joseph’s address, Sue Neuman Hochberg, Chair of the HUC-JIR Board of Governors, and Rachel Margolis, RJE, Senior Program Manager of Congregational Innovation, Union for Reform Judaism and Board of Governors member, confirmed the graduates’ degrees.  Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, gave the Benediction at the conclusion of the ceremony.